Three Things You Probably Didn't Know About Water in the World Today

I learned a lot at today's Techonomy conference session titled The Thirst for Water: Is it increasing beyond our control?. Did you know these things?

70% of the world's water usage is going to agriculture, according to GE's Jeffrey Fulgham. Fulgham says that with more up-to-date low-flow irrigation technology, that consumption could be cut down by 70%. Israel is innovating rapidly in this direction, he said.

In the United States, however, 40% of water use occurs in the production of power. Fulgham said some forms of natural gas extraction even render water unusable for a very long time, so the companies inject it deep into the earth and remove it from the aqua-ecosystem. GE is working to change that process for power companies.

Water leakage is a big deal all around the world but in urban distribution systems in particular. According to Fred Pearce, of New Scientist, in London at least 25% of the water sent to homes and businesses leaks out of the transport systems before it arrives. In many places around the US and world there is 40% or 50% leakage, he said, and some places experience a "nightmarish" 70% leakage from source to consumer. Singapore, on the other hand, has a leakage rate below 5%. Water is delivered there through a closely monitored system that uses algorithms to forecast where leaks are likely to occur.

The star of the show at the water panel today wasn't a big company or media outfit focused on innovations in the city, it was Jin Zidell of the Blue Planet Network. Blue Planet has devised a system to evaluate, monitor and in some select cases help fund more than 10,000 rural water system improvement programs all around the world. Zidell began the session by saying that lack of access to clean drinking water was the world's single largest health problem.
Attendees of the session identified a long list of reasons people around the world are increasingly focused on water, from geopolitical concerns to price inefficiencies to religious connections to water. The collective brain power in that room will no doubt be focused more and more on making our relationship with water smarter in the future.